Grades are up and tardies are down and its all thanks to a unique program at Palisade High School that takes away privileges from students who don't make the cut.

Juniors and seniors at Palisade High School line up to get off campus during lunch. Fitzgibbons "As they drive up to us they got their ID's ready, they know the routine." Three years ago the school stopped allowing freshmen and sophomores to leave for lunch. Something math teacher Glenn Fitzgibbons says did not make students happy. "The students reaction then was not a good one," says, Fitzgibbons. Juniors and seniors can leave school grounds but only if they have passing grades. Palisade Assistant Principal Dan Bollinger says, "You have lower than a 'C' then you don't get to leave campus." Bollinger says students also have to make it to class on time. Bollinger says, "What we've created now is a sense of urgency to get to class on time." Along with id's students are given privilege cards. If they want to leave for lunch they have to show their cards, but if they have a grade lower than a 'C' or have been late to class too many times their name shows up on a list and their card is pulled meaning they can't leave campus for a week. Fitzgibbons says students used to try and sneak off campus. "A few students in trunks of cars laying under backpacks," says, Fitzgibbons.

Officials say the privilege policy resulted in 23,000 fewer tardy's in the first year as well as better grades. "'06–'07 to '07–'08 we had over 12 hundred almost 13 hundred fewer D's and F's and we've had over 12 hundred more A's," says Bollinger.

Student Megan Johnson says the privilege policy does work. "It definitely helps people wanna get their grades up." But she admits it's not perfect. Johnson says, "Teachers can make a mistake and then we get punished for it."

Bollinger says the program is a work in progress. "We still have failures we still have tardies we still have D's and we are not O.K. with that." But it does help them narrow down the students who need just a little motivation from those that need a lot.

School officials say the number of students taking advanced placement classes has also increased in the last three years.